The Satori Shift
by Pam-Panda
Summary: There are many possibilities and many timelines one can go through or see repeated in this world. Many stories with different leads, much like a play. Our lead in this play is a woman by the name of Sable Satori, a woman who has yet to know what awaits her in these many shifts, and whom later hopes to cut the strings of fate that have been woven so tightly for her.
1. Chapter 1 Is this Reality?

There was music filling her ears as her eyes stared up at the sky. It was a beautiful day today, birds happily flying overhead, and practically no clouds to be seen for miles. A wolf beastkin laid with her limbs sprawled out on the concrete of the roof. Tan legs enjoying the warmth of the sun and fingers tapping to the beat of the music dancing in her brain. Unfortunately, this moment of tranquility was a short one, for the sound of squeaking hinges filled the air and heeled loafers clicking against the ground. Tilting her head back and huffing her wild black bangs from her face, she saw another beastkin approaching her.

"Hey, Nekomata." The wolf flashed her canines with a wide grin and stared up at the female standing over her, "I can see your panties."

"That is because you look for them, perv." The one called referred to as Nekomata pretended to kick the other on her head as she placed her hands on her hips. She stared down at the girl with twinkling gold eyes and raised a brow, "C'mon Sable, it's already lunchtime. Are you gonna skip the rest of your classes today, too?"

"Funny enough, I actually was told I didn't have to go." The other stuck her tongue out at her friend and chuckled as she shut her eyes, "My Captain said he needed to do a series of questions with me today about the incident. Again."

"Wow, for once you aren't being a delinquent and you actually have permission." The cat laughed as she sat neck to the girl on the ground, and pulled out one of her headphones, "What are you even listening to? You actually found headphones that fit."

"Damn it, Angel. You know you need to ask before doing that-" Sable quickly complained and actually referred to her friend by her actual name, "Well, my ears are weird and on the side of my head instead of on top, so I just had to make it work..."

The girls sat idly on the roof, speaking quietly about schoolwork, the classes, the students, and it wouldn't be complete without a joke about the discrimination they put up with. The wolf was a girl known as Sable Satori, but she has everyone except for Angel call her Satori. She is the daughter of the renown Satori clan. Well, once renown clan. A few years before Sable had joined the academy tragedy struck her family, leaving her as the possible sole survivor. While the clan had no actual affiliation, they assisted the N.O.L. and Sector 7 when needed. This was due to the fact they were such a large clan, and it only made it better it was filled with such bright minds; her father being the best one. At the same time, they were a mostly need-to-know group among higher ups, and anyone that didn't assist in the science field were mere shrine maidens and priests who helped keep those in need.

But, as far as Sable was concerned, that didn't matter anymore.

The cat was Angel Muraoka, adopted daughter of a family in the Duodecim. But even with having such a high standing, people still treated her like a stray cat in the alley when no one important was looking. It would be hard to tell how much of a loner she would be now if she hadn't made a friend in Sable, and it wasn't even because they both were beastkin.

Though, honestly, that may have helped just a tiny bit.

The day just went by in a blurred motion, the basic routine of waking up and going to classes was so understimulating that there would be times Sable would forget what day it even was. The only things that made it all worth while was her future position in the Intelligence Department, and the friends she got to be with everyday. Sometimes the occasional visit from her Captain was alright, but that usually involved paperwork and a bunch of repeated questions she always gave the same answers to everytime.

Today was still just a normal day, Sable's arm was securely placed around Angel's shoulders as the walked down the hall of the school during their free hour, and off the other arm hung a bag of bread they bought from the cafeteria. Her earbuds secured as best as she could get them in her ears, and Angel's eyes fixated on a little book in her hands and her two large cattails gentle swaying about behind her; every so often they would brush against the wild bush that was Sable's tail.

"So Kagura says he has business to take care of, so he isn't joining us for lunch." Sable spoke up as she flipped through her music player, pulling her friend closer as other groups of students would pass by.

"Huh, that's a shame..." Angel spoke in a voice that made it seem like she was only half paying attention, "So does that mean we are eating in the lunchroom or outside?"

"Eh, I guess it all depends." Sable was soon cut off as someone called out for her.

"Miss Satori!" A young boy with big blue eyes and crooked glasses was running up to the two girls with one large book tucked under his arm, "Miss Satori! You and Miss Angel look like you are doing well today."

"Oh, hello little Carl." Angel suddenly perked up from her book as she heard the young boy's voice, "Are you coming to have lunch with us today?"

"Only if you'll have me." The boy gave a quick bow of his head and nodded in a gleeful manner before jogging up beside the girls.

Since Carl was so small and Kagura wasn't there to act as the silent bodyguard, the girls decided the best place for them to have a peaceful lunch would be the courtyard. With the contents of their bag emptied, Angel and Sable began digging into their own lunch while Carl did the same with his. Days like this weren't a rare occurrence either, Sable and Carl's fathers were close friends after all. Even after her father's passing she was always visited by Mister Clover and his happy family, allowing her to develop a close relationship with the small blonde boy (though, of course, his sister still is number 1). The just chattered on about various things, and laughed as Carl became bashful when Angel would wipe food from his face.

In this moment, Sable's attention suddenly felt like it was being drawn elsewhere. Her mind became a daze as she looked at one of the windows facing the courtyard, and she could have sworn she felt someone watching them from it. For only a split moment she could see a shadowed figure there before it turned on it's heels and left.

_That totally isn't weird at all._

It wasn't like she had much time to think on it anyway, as her mind slowly returned to her she heard Angel mention that lunch time was coming to an end. But even then she found herself unable to move, her mind started swimming and the world felt like it was spinning. Everything was slowly descending into a strange blackness that almost felt like it was beginning to tear away at her very flesh.

_No. This place isn't right either. But why can't I seem to find the spot. It is not there and it is not here. Maybe I have to just keep trying, if we wish for the beast to stay away._

As she scrunched up her face and shut her eyes tight, a sensation that made her feel like she just teleported away now took over. Now as she opened her eyes, trying to focus them to make out shapes in front of her, she was now sitting before a green haired man in a black fedora and suit. He tilted up the edge of his hat and gave her a confused expression as he tapped the table they were sitting at.

"Helloooooo. Satori? I know those ears of yours are working, but have you heard a single word I've been saying?" He commented in what seemed to be a concerned voice and straightened out some papers in front of him.

"Huh? I'm... I'm sorry, my mind ended up going elsewhere." Sable cleared her throat as she held her head, "What was it again, Hazama?"

"Honestly," The man sighed but soon a smile spread across his face, "I know you don't like these sessions, but we have orders to ask these questions."

"Because I was the one who decided to come on N.O.L. property in the first place, yeah? Alright, alright..." Sable repeated some words she was told the first time they started asking her questions. When those words slipped out of her mouth, she quickly bit her lip and lowered her head, "I.. I'm sorry. Can you please just..."

"Repeat the question? Alright. But I expect an answer this time. This is the last session you have to get before you graduation this year." He cleared his throat in an exaggerate way as he read the paper, "We know your memories are a little fuzzy from the incident, but can you remember anything from before Mr. Shishigami found you? Maybe even a glimpse of who could have done it?"

"No." Sable quickly stated, still refusing to look at the man before her as she propped an elbow up on the table, "It's all too fuzzy. The most I can remember is my dad shielding me and... Are we done yet?"

"You are very uncooperative, Satori. But it isn't like I can blame you, I knew your father really well. As well as others in your family. I don't much like thinking about it myself, I can only imagine how it must be for you." Hazama simply shrugged as he started putting the papers away into a folder.

Every year at the same time every month she was asked a series of questions, they said it would be in hopes her amnesia from the trauma would let-up. But really it just made her want to think about it even less.

"Now then. Since, we have received new information of someone here at the school, I have one final question for you." Hazama stretched out his arms and couldn't help but to chuckle at the annoyed glare she gave him, "It's about your sister-"

Standing up at such a sudden speed, her chair ended up being flung back and the desk shook as she slammed her hands down onto it, "That stupid bitch is not my sister! I don't have a sister! She doesn't carry my name and doesn't even know anything!"

"Now, now, no need for the violence or language." Hazama held up his hands defensively as he began to shake his head, "We just discovered recently that Gin Satori had a bastard child after looking through more things recovered from your old home. We were just wondering, since there is one other survivor than you, that maybe you making contact-"

"NO!" She shouted, cutting him off again before she grabbed her own head in frustration, "The woman's mother was a crazy woman who- who- Ugh! It is disgusting just thinking about it! I want nothing to do with that little test tube baby of hers! My real sister is dead, plain and simple! Anything else is- is-"

She was now shaking from the anger as she felt hot tears forming in the corners of her eyes, and she could hear her heart pounding in her rib cage as the stress began to take over. Barely able to hear Hazama's chair scrape back against the floor, Sable flinched back when he placed a hand on her shoulder. Looking up at him with a burning gaze, the seemingly worried look even though the small glint of his golden eyes struck fear into her. As the tears started pouring out, Sable's hands moved to cover her face and her shoulders began to droop.

"I'm sorry, Captain. I-I shouldn't have..." As her ears folded downward and her words were muffled by her hands, she was stopped by Hazama placing a hand on her head.

"Now, now." He spoke quietly before pulling a tissue from his pocket, "Take this and wipe your face. I don't want to see you crying... Oh, and it's -Hazama-. No need to call me Captain. I think this is the end of this session, but I'll keep in contact with you now and again. Until next time, Satori."

As he removed his fedora, holding it against his chest as he bowed at the young woman, he placed his hat back on his head to make his way out the room. Sable gripped the tissue she was given as she watched him leave. Before he fully walked out the door, Sable drew in a deep breath and took a step towards the taller man and suddenly shouted.

"Sable!" Is what she yelled, leaving the man looking a little confused as he turned back to look at her. With her face now turning pink, she tried to steady her voice as she continued, "You don't have to call me Satori. You- You can just call me Sable, Hazama."

He didn't say anything back to her, he just went back to his normal smiling expression before leaving her behind in the room. Though the intense feelings in her now left, she was left with the feeling of butterflies in her stomach and a pounding headache. She wasn't given a moment to process anything that just happened as she wiped the tear marks from her face. The world was spinning still, and something about it made her feel as though none of this was even real.

_Wait... No... This isn't right either..._ _Just a little further. Further away from here..._

There was that feeling of floating again, and we she opened her eyes she found herself standing in what appeared to be a thick fog, and when she looked down the ground was like the surface of water. Yet she wasn't sinking in. Her mind seemed to be in a dazed, and she wondered if she was just dreaming again. It wouldn't be the first nightmare to plague her, and it wouldn't be the last either. As she saw her surroundings change there was an intense pain in her stomach, and when looking down she saw a large sword had been driven through; the taste of iron filled her mouth as droplets of blood dropped to her feet.

But it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared in the first place. Sable just kept holding her head as images flashed before her eyes.

_None of these are right._

"_It's not like it's fraternization- I- I never graduated, remember?"_

_No._

"_You're not my sister! You shouldn't even exist! You're some disgusting little being made for a disgusting purpose! I'd kill you myself if HE would just let me!"_

_None of these._

"_It was a lie, all a lie- I- I can't trust you, I'm sorry but-"_

_How am I supposed to get back to reality...?_

"Reality?" She asked herself, continuing to stare at the images, listening to the nonsense that filled her ears. One moment she was standing there with Angel. Then there was Kagura Mitsuki. Her "sister"? Then nothing.

Just nothing.

There were fights, battles, and blood spilling upon the ground. Her body changing, shifting into something whose shape she couldn't even make out. There were tears, crying, and screaming. There were faces and voices of people she has no recollection of ever meeting, people who didn't even exist; all just flashing before her eyes for only a moment before they were gone.

_You need to wake up, Sable._ The voice had changed now, but it now sounded like two different people.

The ground below her felt like it was being pulled from under her, and now she was just falling through the air into a black abyss. And in the abyss was another person, a man. Pale skin, a mess of long white hair, and desperate sky blue eyes.

"Sable! Please! Take my hand...!" This man called for her in an almost pained voice, "Please, I can't...! Not again!"

"N..o.." Sable felt someone's name forming on her lips as she reached out for the man's hand, "Nobuyuki...?"

Her mind was almost turning to mush in this strange dream-like state she found herself in. When she gripped his hand, his hold was strong as he pulled her back, and it didn't loosen as he held her against him. She could have sworn she could hear him crying, but what about she didn't know, nor could she source the sound of maniacal laughter the filled the air. Her vision was going black when she heard another voice that set chills up her spine.

"Aaaaaaw, lover boy is back at it again? Kyahaha! Wow, you are such a LOSER! You forget she's a married woman, arranged or not. She'll NEVER be yours, and you know it. But that face... Ooooh that FACE! I just can't get enough of it!" A sadistic, crazed voice spoke before bursting out into another fit of laughter.

"Shut up! Just shut the hell up! I won't let you lay another finger on her!" The man shouted at the crazed out, and she even felt his hand go the back of her head to pull her closer.

"You... Pfft, wait, ehehe." The voice almost sounded like it was about to choke from laughing as it continued, "You won't... YOU won't LET me?! Aahah... AHAHAHA! You act like you have any say! Mr. Out of Time! Sucks that your little brat isn't here to save you two! This just keeps getting better and better! Looks like I'll just have to take the bitch back by force!"

She heard the man's voice break as he started to scream, but that too simply faded away like everything else. Now, instead of his strong hold around her, she was in a woman's soft embrace, and her ear was pressed to their chest to hear their heartbeat.

"_You sure seem to be getting into quite a lot of trouble lately, Sable." _A woman's solemnly laughed in her ear.

"M...mom?" Sable's face twitched in confusion, but she relaxed as she felt her gentle hand petting down her hair.

"_I am so sorry, my love. I've not been here to help you through any of this. I guess even most of it is my fault, and to leave your poor father to try to carry it all..." _Her mother sighed sadly, now just resting her hand on the top of her daughter's head, "_But it will be alright. I promise. We are making it all right now. But you're going to have to wake up..."_

"Wake up...? But I don't... understand..."

"_Wake up and return to reality. Before the beast returns. Please, my little one. You have to. And don't be afraid, you won't be alone. I'm always with you after all... But now..."_

As the voice trailed off and the warm arms around her disappeared, Sable felt like she was falling into the black abyss once more. At first it was slow and easy, but the speed began to pick up and she was like a bullet that was shot through the air. As she fell further and further, beneath her a bright white light began to shine, and as it swallowed her whole...

Shooting up from her bed, in nothing but a pair of boyshorts and a layer of cold sweat, the woman known as Sable Satori scrambled across the floor to rush over to her vanity. Staring at her reflection to see she was in fact a human woman, not animal ears or parts to be found, she tangled her fingers into her wild ebony locks. From her face to her abdomen, there were no signs of injuries, swords through the guts, war-like battle scars. Nothing.

Groaning as she sat in her chair, Sable rubbed her hands all down her face and tried to shake away the feelings from this nightmare. Looking at the pictures she carefully placed on the vanity, from her and Angel in the academy, her and Bang when she was younger, an old family photo, and one single photo of her mother. She kept that one inside of a small, beautifully decorated ivory frame. Picking it up and staring at it as if to burn the image into her brain forever, Sable couldn't help but sigh.

Her mother was a beautiful woman with lovely peachy-toned skin, long feathery white hair that cascaded down her back, and eyes that reminded her of sparkling red rubies. As she stared at the image, Sable bit her lip when it felt like tears were going to form in her eyes.

"I don't understand at all, mom..." She spoke in a quiet, shaky voice, "What do you mean reality? What do you mean 'wake up'? I don't understand any of this. Dad isn't here to tell me. Please, mom... What do you need me to wake up from?"


	2. Chapter 2 Exposition

_Stupid dream. Whatever it was suppose to be about, made no sense at all. Damn it all, I really just want to go home._

What kind of shrooms was she on? Oh, right, she wasn't. But you really could have fooled her she was so messed up in the head from this...

_I know dreams aren't supposed to make sense but this is just a new level a weird. I don't know why the fuck this is even happening to me. First I dream I'm a damn wolf beastkin, then I'm in some... damned otherworld it looked like. I am being held onto by a man I have never met in my life, with some psycho bastard laughing his head off. And then my..._

Sighing out in what almost seemed like defeat, she stretched at her vanity once again when setting down the photo of her mother. Going back to examining her own face, she twisted her mouth in confusion and went to ruffle her her already messy bed head, leaving it a wild and -most likely- tangled mess of ebony hair on her head. "Fuck all," Groaning to herself with her head thudding against the vanity, hitting it a few times until- "Ouch. My head."

Her face scrunched up as she rubbed the self-inflicted injury, Sable began to stand up from her seat and sighed out heavily in annoyance. Why did she make her already terrible headache even worse? With shaky legs and a temporarily ruined equilibrium, she made her way to her wardrobe to get out whatever she was planning to wear for the day. Pulling pieces of clothes out, she was already slipping on a pair of ragged coal colored socks before she even really knew what she was going to wear over them. Rolling her shoulders lazily as she shuffled through all of the fabrics, tilting her head to the side as her mind seemed to wander and she had to snap herself back to reality.

Before she knew it she was fully dressed, sitting around in a faded dark-blue tube top that ended below her rib cage, and a pair of ebony shorts that ended a few inches below her hips. Curling her toes in her socks, she finally started moving around again to finish dressing herself. For some reason, to just do these everyday things were becoming a struggle for her to just do this. There was a strange feeling in the air she couldn't shake, and her dreams were becoming more vivid with each passing day.

_No. _She thought to herself, _Just shake it off. It is nothing. Everything is fine._

Ever since dad passed away, and they were driven from their home in Ikaruga years later, it had just been her, Bang, and his gang of goofy yet noble ninjas. She barely kept in contact with her friends from the academy, especially Angel, and she now found herself getting more and more nightmares with each passing day.

With her hands in her pockets, she was already slipping on her black steel-toed boots rather than her geta for the day. Back at her vanity, she stared at herself for a bit and placed her hands on her abs, her fingers poking at a strange birthmark in the center that looked more like a wound than anything else. Scrunching up her nose, she instead started looking through her vanity for her gloves and pendants. The gloves were a simple black color and finger less, traveling to the middle of her forearm with small metal studs on the knuckles. Pulling out two necklaces, one was a simple brown leather belt choker that she carefully tightened around her neck. The other was a matching leather necklace that had white magatama secured on the end. The magatama was one of her family heirlooms, but to her it was a memento from her father.

Having loosely hanging off her neck so not to strangle herself with it, she went back to her wardrobe for the last, and to her most important, details of her outfit. Fiddling with the white pendant between her fingers, she grabbed her brown belts with pouches on the sides of them and quickly strapped them on. Lastly was something else passed down to her from her father. A sleeveless black cloak with a high collar, trailing down to her mid-shin, a hood buckled onto it, and was trimmed with white.

Gathering any other extras she may need for the day, Sable was quietly humming to herself as she made her way out into the blazing sun. Shielding her ocean orbs from the blinding rays and listening to the constant yelling traveling in through the air, the scent of musk and B.O. filling her nostrils... Before the source finally appeared before her. Towering over her was a bronze-skinned man with a wild head of brown hair, amber eyes, wide smile, and a large X shaped scar in the center of his face.

"SISTER!" The loud voice boomed in her ears, causing her to cover her ears with her hands and cringing a bit, "You are finally awake! But you seem rather pale, is everything alright?"

It was not often Bang noticed minor details, but Sable already had dark circles around her eyes, so for them to be more prominent would be hard to miss. Though Sable waved her hand to dismiss the man anyway, she laughed to herself and gave a nervous smile, "I'm fine, brother. Just strange dreams again. Nothing to worry about."

Bang gazed down at her with an intense, yet worried gleam in his eyes before flashing a smile once again, "Alright! if you say so," Lifting up his hand and patting her on the shoulder, the force nearly throwing her to the ground, "Remember, if you ever need me, I will always be here for you, sister."

"Yeah, thanks you big lug." Sable quickly cracked her knuckles and gave a swift punch to his chest, her other being caught in his hand before she pulled back once again and gave him a wide smirk, "I'm going out to buy food for dinner. Is there anything you want me to pick up?"

Yes, conversations like this with Bang lifted her spirits, even if they were so repetitive and idle in a way, it meant her life was stable. Things were okay, it made the paranoia that had been filling her lately slowly fade for the time being. He'd hand her a bag and a crumpled up list he and everyone else in the dojo would put together. She'd walk away to get to Orient Town and try to keep her head up high, just praying to herself that nothing bad would happen that day. It's worked every time so far, it should still work today.

Sable had been wandering around the markets in Orient Town, she started adjusting a bag slumped onto her shoulder with a heavy sigh. No matter how many times she came here, the crowded streets always annoyed her. She was tall enough to see over everyone's head, but that also left room for her to run into others, possibly knock them over. Scooting closer to the buildings, she stumbled across a small bulletin board with a bunch of different promotions and wanted posters pinned to it.

"Ooh!" Sable cringed but also smiled at once, staring at it with her nose practically twitching and laughing, "Poor bastard! With an ugly mug like that it would be hard to miss... Ragna the Bloodedge? Grim Reaper?! Ha!"

Bursting out laughing again as she held onto her stomach, she bit her lip as she continued to exam the poster. The man seemed to be pale with dark eyes, wild silver hair, and a red coat. She'd keep a look out for him, but as she stated before, if he was really as ugly as he is in the poster... Sable had to pry herself away from the board just to get her work done. This was going to just make the rest of her day, she could tell. Putting a free hand on her chest as she breathed out heavily, she stopped in front of a very popular restaurant that was right across the street from a medical clinic.

Bang apparently had a fancy for a woman there by the name of Litchi Faye Ling. Sable often joked around by saying he probably only liked her for her breasts, but that was only because of how he reacted when going on the defensive.

She couldn't blame him, though. Litchi was a very beautiful woman, not to mention she was very kind. But something about her just never sat right in her guts. Shrugging her shoulders back once again, Sable was now just trying to process through her mind anything else she'd need. She got all the food, extra snacks and ingredients... _What else..? _Genuinely not able to remember, she eventually ended up bumping into someone along the street.

Jumping back, she was at level with someone's nose and her muscles tensed up from the shock. Both her and whomever she ran into muttered small apologies, not daring to look at the other. Her eyes averted upward to look at who she ran into, and that awkward feeling started settling in once more. A man with wild silver hair and a case of heterochromia was staring down at her with a sharp gaze. He was handsome, but her awkwardness just slowly converted to annoyance and anger that couldn't be swayed no matter how appealing one may look. "What the hell are you staring at?"

"Wha- Obviously I am looking at the person who couldn't watch where she was going!" The man suddenly seemed taken aback by her rude question, returning her anger with his own. The man had a deep voice, though it's not as burly as some others she has heard.

"Well it seems that you weren't watching either since you also ran into me!" Barking back at him, Sable's voice started becoming more rough the louder she got, even shoving aggressively past him, "Now if you excuse me, SIR!"

"What?! Are you seriously-?!" He exclaimed even louder, very annoyed by the sudden conflict obviously and grabbing onto her shoulder to keep her in place, "Wait a minute!"

Right after she was grabbed Sable dropped the bag she was holding, with no hesitation, she span on her heel to send her knee flying into his stomach. The man hunched over and spat up as he backed away from her. Sneering at the female who seemed ready for a fight, in fact she actually initiated it already, he drew his blade from the holster on his back and readied himself.

The white haired man stood there with his hand on the hilt of his sword, and Sable stared him down with her legs spread out and her arms up as guard. Each moving one foot out, they started rushing at one another. The man spinning his body around to try and hit the woman with the blunt side of his blade, Sable dropped down to her knees to slide along the ground. Planting her hands to the ground to support her lower body in the air and sending a kick towards his jaw instead, but his reflexes were faster than she could have guessed and he had already jumped out of the way of her attack, following his dodge with a punch to her abdomen. The woman tumbled on the ground for a moment, laying face down before she forced herself up and recover.

On her guard once again, she actually felt a smile growing on her face as the adrenaline started pumping through her veins. Rushing towards him again, she used the momentum she gathered to hop in the air, but was surprised to see the man following the same method. Turning her body and focusing on her hips as her center point, she sent a crescent kick towards the man, which he countered with his own kick and punch that sent her flying into an alleyway.

Following after her, he found her trying to recover herself and brought his leg up into the air to drop it directly on her head. Sable, thankfully, had fast enough reflexes to block it and counter with her own punch to his jaw. Yet she ended up receiving one of her own in return, leaving them standing there with their fists twisted against each others faces. Pulling away, they started sending a barrage of kicks and punches at one another, drawing blood and leaving bruises that may last for days if not treated.

Standing there with a split lip and bloody nose, Sable had her teeth bared at the man as they finally got 3 feet of distance between one another. The man was nearly growling and staring her down before his attention seemed to be caught by something else in the distance. She didn't hear or see whatever it was, but it caused him to dash off suddenly.

"Hey! Get back here! We aren't' finished!" Sable barked in his direction when jogging back after him, but he was no where in sight.

Huffing and growling under her breath, she really was finished but she was too proud to ever admit she was too tired for a good fight. she searched for her bag that she left beside one of the buildings, thankfully it was left untouched... Maybe it wasn't the smartest idea for her to have dropped it and pick a fight with some stranger on the street. Especially as something as petty as bumping into one another, but she had a developed a habit of "Act first, think later". This is why she needed her friend with her, she always kept her head straight. Sucking her teeth and putting the bag back on her shoulder, her adrenaline was still pumping from the encounter and stayed like that until she was finally able to calm down.

Sable was finally back in Ronin-Gai, off in the large kitchen she had begun to unpack and put away the food for dinner later that night. Having stopped by the clinic on her way home, she had a large bandage on her cheek for both the bruises and cuts she got on it from her fight earlier. Whistling light-heartedly to herself, she felt something odd in the air. Today was just like any other day, minus the scrap she got in, but yet it didn't feel like it. It was like there was something sinister in her air, like an omen was looming overhead.

Then there was the sudden smell of roses in the air, light and floral, leaving her fairly relaxed yet just as confused. It was like a small tornado appeared next to her as wind picked up the bottom of her cloak, and next to her was a small female with long, golden pony-tails. She was clad in very dark gothic lolita type clothes, and stood looking up at the woman with bright, wise red eyes.

"Rachel...?" Sable asked with wide eyes as she slowly dropped onto one knee, "Rachel Alucard?"

"Hello Satori, your mannerisms haven't wavered too much I see. Yet, from the look of your face, you still appear to be as reckless as ever." Rachel commented in her soft, yet elegant voice as she moved her hair behind her ears.

"I-I mean... Well.. You see..." Trying to explain herself as she felt a sweatdrop go down her head, the last time she ever saw Rachel was not too long before her father died, and even then they didn't really speak.

"Please cease your babbling before it begins, Satori,"Rachel sighed out as she gestured to her in a way to tell to taller woman to stand once again.

"My apologies. It's just a shock to see you, it's been forever." Sable spoke quietly as she rubbed the back of her head, her eyes narrowing and her brows scrunched together in a confused fashion.

"Yes, it has, hasn't it? Well as nice as it would be to waste time with simple chit-chat, this is not what I made my way all the way out here for," Rachel quietly smashed any chance of trying to catch up with one another, though Sable wasn't too surprised by this, "To get to the point, you're in danger."

Snorting in a way that made Rachel's eyes shoot daggers are her, Sable rubbed under her nose as she looked away, "You mean more-so than normal? I doubt it's anything I can't handle."

"If you would silence yourself for a moment and use those ears of yours, you'd probably heed my warning." Rachel huffed in an angry way, she was in fact much older than the other female, even if she looked no older than 12. If she was anyone else, Sable would be making a joke about listening to her elders, "I know it has been a long time, but it seems your father's past is coming to creep up on you. The old fool has been dead for how many years now? Yet he still manages to make trouble from beyond the grave, unfortunately for you."

Sable just sat there with her arms crossed and her head tilted to the side as she tried to figure out what Rachel could be going on about. What did her father have to do with anything? He's been dead since the Ikaruga Civil War, since she dropped out of the academy...

"Tell me, child, you've been having strange dreams lately." Rachel was more so stating rather than asking, and the look on Sable's face told her all she needed to know, "As I thought... Though I am sure your simple mind would not be able to wrap around it if I attempted to explain, but what you should be able to process is that you'll be putting everyone you love in danger if you remain here."

_This is like exposition in a book. I'm a stereotypical heroine with a stupid backstory and constant danger on my heels. Damn. I don't know... I can't ask. But why is this happening now? And what would my dreams have to do with any of this..._

"Your road is paved in fire, and if you are not careful, not only you will be the one to burn." Rachel finished as she shut her eyes, breathing out quietly as she awaited the bigger woman's response.

"I... Where should I go?" Sable finally filled the heavy silence as she shut her own eyes, trying to let the idea sit in before holding her own head.

"That is entirely up to you. And do try to be careful, it would be a shame if someone had to save you down the road." And with that, Rachel disappeared once again, leaving behind only that same smell of roses and a light breeze to lift her cloak once again. Leaving the other woman just standing there, her mind racing and yet at a total stop on what to do next, and where she would go from here.

Groaning once she was sure the smaller one was gone, she ran her fingers through her hair, and began to mess it up enough to resemble a tumbleweed on her head. This was ridiculous. This was like a book. A bad book. Bad because this was her story. "Here I thought I could just have a quiet life. Nope. I get shitty dreams, and cryptic advice from a goth-lolita vampire," Apparently the fighting with strangers was not too uncommon for her, "Damn, damn, damn...! Fuck all, I swear!"

Not bothering with the rest of the groceries, she decided to just make her way back to her room. She needed to think of what she was going to do, where she was going to go, but most importantly... "Damn, how am I going to explain this to Bang..."

That night was quiet, with the exception of the faint steps of whomever was patrolling for the night, Sable decided it would be best to leave then. If not, she may not ever be able to leave, she wouldn't be able to leave, and her small family damn sure would not let her go. Stuffing all of her necessities into a sturdy leather travel-pack, she made sure it was all tightly rolled and folded so it would all fit, and strapped her pillow and blanket to the top. Once the minor things were done, and the picture of her mother carefully wrapped in a seperate bag, she went to find a ink and paper to leave a note for her brother-figure. So many things she wanted to say, so many feelings were rushing through her. And it didn't make it less confusing, she was a nobody outside her community, except maybe a daughter of a has-been scientist. However... this was going to be too complicated to try to explain on paper, and if she got too sentimental she would just end up smudging all the ink with her tears. Finally, she came to a decision of what to say...

_I am to leave so soon.. I cannot say way, because even I do not understand why. But I want you to know that I love you, big brother. I hope to see you and the others in the near future. Maybe I will even see you on the road. But until then, take care of yourself and the others, it is what you do best._

_Until another day,_

_Sable_

Leaving the note on her now empty vanity, she almost walked out before remembering something very important. Something she left hidden in a compartment of her wardrobe. Rushing to find it and still trying to remain quiet, it was almost like she was panicked about the object. That was soon replaced with relief when she found the worn, leather book book covered in old ink and dust.

"Dad, how could I almost leave this?" She grumbled as she stuck it into a side pocket of her pack and made her way silently out the buildings. Keeping an eye out for any patrols that may catch her, and flipped the hood of her cloak onto her head, having it low enough to create a shadow over her face but high enough to allow her to still see.

The road... she just followed the road. No clue on where she should go, no clue where he would end up. Time would be the one to tell her, and it would tell her once she got there. For now, silence. It was exciting, almost, to think she would be traveling around now. It would be nice if under different, more explained circumstances, but it would be lying to say she wasn't looking for some excuse like this to allow her to leave.

It was like one of the books her father would read her. It was like a story. Her story to be exact. Unfortunately for her, she isn't as much control of it as she would like to believe.

_My sweet girl... _The voice of the mother echoed in her head, _I will still be with you. I'll protect you. But please... be wary of him... of the man who will awaken your beast. Of the man who will return you to the lie._


	3. Chapter 3 Old Faces?

"_Sable..." _A soothing woman's voice echoed in the air, the same that always came about when she would be awaking from her dreams, "_Dear it is time to wake up. You'll be late."_

"Just five more minutes, mom..." She muttered, half-awake as she was now on her back, feeling the warmth of a woman's lap beneath her head rather than the pillow she had fallen asleep on.

"_Come now, dear. You can't sleep forever." _She heard the woman laugh, and the feeling of sunlight as well as a soft hand gently stroking her cheek, "_It is time to get going. Come on, get up."_

"Mom..." _Why do you always want me to go_, is what she wanted to ask, but wasn't able to form the words as the feeling of long silky hair tickled her cheeks. Beginning to open her eyes, a blurry outline of a woman above her kept her in a daze, long silver locks raining over her, and meeting one of the ruby red eyes above her, "M-mom...?"

"_Shh. It is fine, love." _The woman spoke to her as she rested a hand over the young woman's eyes, "_It is fine. But it's time to get going."_

When the warmth of her hand left from over Sable's eyes, so did the feeling of her ever being there. Having fully awakened, the woman was just sprawled out on her back, her large pillow still as plush as before, and the sky bright and blue as ever. Biting her lower lip as she let this feeling sink in. In a daze, she drew in deep breaths as her mind tried to process what just happened. _Been awhile since that last happened... _She thought to herself, staring blankly at the clouds rolling overhead.

Sitting up from her sleeping spot, she stretched on her bottom and cursed under her breath when a yawn started to take over. Here she thought she would be able to fully settle into her new life without strange things happening. Nope. Not even close to the case. No point in even trying to question it, considering the cryptic advice she was given only a month ago. Slowly standing to her feet, the woman began to break down her little camp site to make her way to the nearest town.

Counting the change in her pocket as she walked through the roads of the town. _This is the place, right?_ She thought, looking at the run downed village that had scattered machine parts and old carts everywhere. She was in her birth village of Zhaoyang, China; a very agricultural land that barely made it by through trade with the N.O.L. and helping each other out. The village apparently has been around for centuries, maybe a millennia now. Her maternal grandparents used to live here, if she could properly recall, and their old home should still be around. Possibly? As she looked around she barely recalled the face from her childhood, now withered and aged. A strange smell lingered in the air, it wasn't any of the seither that concentrated in these areas, it wasn't as suffocating but yet...

Covering her mouth for a moment and coughing into her elbow, she gazed at some of the children who were running about in the dusty streets with their balls, cans, or whatever they could find to play with. Rubbing the back of her head and looking up at the sky, her mind started to wander before she picked up a strange and familiar aura. Locking eyes with a pair of bright, golden orbs, Sable began to tremble where she stood when the voice entered her ears.

"Long time no see, Miss Satori. You look healthy." A kind, elegant voice spoke to her, a voice belonging to the woman standing before her.

This woman was Angel Muraoka; Sable's best friend since they were both at the N.O.L Academy...

"A-Angel?!" Sable choked out as she stared at the woman, "Sweet Buddah, is that you?!"

Saying nothing more, the woman held out her slender arms to the tall woman. With no hesitation, happy tears streamed from Sable's ocean blue eyes as she scooped the woman into her arms. Giving a gentle, yet firm embrace, she buried her face into her friend's long dark hair. Angel was a beautiful woman, one Sable finds just as stunning as her own mother.

Angel was a curvy, yet well balanced female, and had two large, long tails that granted her the nickname "Nekomata" from the friend before her. Often an inside joke as both of them seemed to have connection to old Japanese folklore and legends, but Angel's origin was always unsure due to the adoption.

In this moment, she was planting friendly kisses on the face of the fair-skinned cat beastkin(as it is much easier to call her such) before her. "I didn't expect you to be here! I just talked to you the other day on the phone," Sable whined like she did as a preteen, looking at up her friend with eyes glistening with tears, "Why didn't you tell me you were here? Had I known I would have-!"

"Hush, hush," Angel calmed the tall woman down when she was placed back on the ground, "I just wanted to give you a little surprise is all. And to be quite honest, I didn't expect you to come here of all places just yet. But I am glad you are here, some others and I have been looking for you."

Sable looked confused as she wiped her pink-rimmed eyes, "Who? I know you work with Kagura, but what reason would you guys? The N.O.L. doesn't exactly need more for anything since... You know." _Since dad passed away. It isn't like her gave me any of his scientific secrets or secret plans before the war. _But she couldn't say that.

"Well, you see, it isn't exactly business with them. Just us. And some others who say they are friends of yours. I saw them around here maybe an hour ago, they must be at the inn." Angel placed a finger on her chin as the large ears on her head twitched about, "Oh. Also."

Angel grabbed onto Sable's wrist, and the tanned woman felt a prickly sensation going up her arm that soon felt almost like a burning sensation. Yelping from the pain and yanking her arm away, she shook her arm about as it grew numb from the shock.

"What the hell?! Why did you shock me like that?! With the ice- you put ice on my wrist..!" Sable was practically squawking now as she breathed hot air onto the ice, waiting for it to slowly disappear into a fog-like matter.

"You can't go picking fights with wanted bad guys, seriously." Angel drew in a deep breath and rested a hand on her chest as she shook her head, "Especially when they are S Class Criminals! I know you are reckless but you need to use that brain of yours sometimes. Things are already crazy enough as it is."

"What?" Sable frowned in confusion as the ice finally disappeared from her wrist, still shaking her arm around, "The fuck are you talking about?! I didn't fight any criminals! The last fight I got in that wasn't some monster was some... Punk who...Oh shit."

You could almost hear the game show horns go off, as if she finally got the answer right, "That punk I fought was-!? You are joking right?!"

"No. You picked a fight with Ragna the Bloodgedge, AKA The Grim Reaper sometime before you started traveling, correct? I may not be Intel, but I have my connections... But I guess it is a good thing you didn't apprehend him..." The last part was muttered under her breath as she covered her lips.

"What?" Sable asked as she continued to pout, rubbing her tingly arm as she huffed under her breath.

"Nothing. Would you like to go to your grandparents home? Follow me." Angel went back to her sweet smile as she turned on her heels to walk away.

Sable stood there dazed for a moment, watching the woman's tails and hips sway before coming back to her senses. With a red face and trying to make herself not appear like a hormonal teen, like how she was years ago, but that would be a story for another time. Jogging up behind the female, she walked with her in the run-down village.

Towards the back of the village sat her maternal grandparents house. It looked like it was left sitting untouched for the past decade or two. Apparently it sat next to the village shrine, but she actually wasn't quite sure of what or whom the shrine was dedicated to. Trying to peek in through the dirty windows, Sable shoved her hands in her shorts pockets and squinted her eyes. "Man. I know this place is old but... I think the seither added onto this."

"You could be right. But the house also needs a proper cleaning. We think there may be some information beneficial to us inside. While your Satori side is greatly known by name, your mother's side was apparently known for information. Very hush, hush about many things. Shall we go?"

Shrugging her shoulders and making her way inside first, Sable tried to hold down a sneeze when her senses were assaulted with cloud of dust and dirt. Scrunching up her face and coughing heavily into her elbow, she rushed to open the old windows and more of the doors in the home so it would air out. Once the air was cleared up enough, she began to search through their dresser drawers for anything that may look important. Frowning in an early defeat, she looked through the cabinet that her grandparents kept their "Fine China" in. Though now it was old, aged in a way that looked like it had been sitting there for centuries.

_But there is something in there...?_

Gulping as a nervous sweat sweat started running down her head, she carefully began to move aside the old and cracked pieces of porcelain dishes with trembling hands. With a shaky sigh of relief, she picked up some sort of memo pad that was placed behind them. Arching a brow and frowning again, she held it closer to her face to get a better inspection of it. Before she could look to close, she heard Angel mutter something under her breath as she carefully took the pad from Sable's hands.

"Well," Angel started as she quickly glanced through whatever the notes were, "This seems to be one of the things we were looking for."

"Okaaaay..." Sable slowly began to speak as she raised a brow, "Whaaat does it talk about? You kept mentioning info and you haven't really gave hint as to what."

When realizing she wasn't going to be getting the memo pad back, Sable shoved her hands back into her own pockets. Angel's eyes flicked back and forth between her friend and the pad for a moment, and she eventually decided to clear her throat while sticking the pad into the pocket of her jacket.

"This is merely information for old seither filters that they tried to build here years ago. It was an experimental process you family helped with is all." Angel spoke in a more professional tone as she wiped her hands off on her skirt, "I'm just taking these as reference, Kagura and I will see if they are really something that needs to be presented or not."

Sable narrowed her eyes at the woman for a moment, just nodding her head in a very slow motion before drawing in a deep breath. Mumbling 'Okay' to herself, it was obvious Sable didn't exactly believe that, but she also was not in a position to question it.

"Well, if you don't need it, be sure to give it back." Trying to swallow the sudden irritation building in her throat, Sable coughed to the side before asking, "Is that all you need for the day? Or do we need to look more?"

"Actually," Angel ended up cutting her off as she glanced out the window, "Uh... Yeah, that's it. It is getting late. We should get to the inn for now."

Neither of them could tell you why the air around them always went from friendly and cheerful to thick and tense within the blink of an eye. It could be from events in the past, or the fact they both stopped talking as much after Sable dropped out of the academy. It was an issue neither of them attempted to face, and never felt the need to. No matter how awkward it made them in some situations.

They walked side-by-side, not saying a word. Not trying to catch up face-to-face. Nothing. There was only silence. Sable felt no need to say anything, they talked on the phone after all; and even without that most people in a position of power knew the status of her with her family -or lack thereof - anyway. So they just walked, and the only words that were spoken by Sable were directed to vendors in the market and passersby in the street from long ago.

"I am so shocked how this village in standing..." Sable finally spoke to her friend as she made it to the inn, booking her own room as she went to the innkeeper who stood behind the counter.

"Well, while the filters didn't work, the N.O.L. did stop by every once and awhile to help the people here." Angel gave a small smile as she began to smooth down the fur on one of her tails.

_Because they didn't oppose them like everyone in Ikaruga did, huh? _Is what Sable thought, but she couldn't say that. After all, she should be happy. But wars leave scars, after all.

"I guess, but it is such a tiny place, unless there is some kind of big thingamajig under the shrine back there, or this village is just full of secrets, you can't blame me for being shocked." Sable gave a small laugh as she pulled money out of her pocket to hand to the innkeeper.

In an instant, however, Sable's entire body froze from how tightly the innkeeper grabbed her hand. And when looking the elderly woman in her face, she felt concerned about the large smile that stretched across the woman's face.

"Are you here to free us, again?" The old woman asked in a shaky voice, "Look at you. You haven't changed from the last time I saw you. But you aren't here with that one fellow, ah.. What was his name...?"

The old woman's grip slowly loosened as she tried to find her thoughts, and it seemed Sable was saved by the woman's husband coming into the room, "Biyu!" He called out, "Are you rambling on again? I am so sorry, little Sable. It is nice to see you again." The old man quickly greeted the young girl before pulling his wife away from her.

_Must be going senile..._

"Well, I presume you have your own room already. Want me to walk you there?" Sable joked as she glanced at Angel, who only smiled in return.

The sound of a ringing cellphone then filled their ears, and as Angel pulled hers from out of a different pocket she frowned at the caller id. As she scoffed, Sable could have sworn she her the beastkin mumble something along the lines of 'This snake is the last person I want to talk to' before she excused herself.

Standing there even after she was given her room key, Sable was starting to feel the same confusion that she did when Rachel appeared in her kitchen. With a roll of her shoulders she decided maybe she just needed to sleep in a real bed for the night and everything would be better tomorrow. As she turned to walk down the hallway, she was suddenly charged by what appeared to be a child.

Barely reaching her stomach, and a mess of inky black hair hidden underneath an injured panda hat, she was met by a ocean blue eye like hers, but where it should be white it was a sickly yellow. The other eye was hidden by the hair hanging in front of the child's white face. Well, near-white. It was unnatural to say the least. As the child stared up at her, they backed away and a large smile crept up on their face.

"It's Sable!" The child cheered as they jumped up and down in their mismatched knee-high socks and brown mary-janes, "Yu-chan! Yuuuu! Come hereeee!"

As they turned to wave down someone else in the hall, Sable looked up to see a man approaching them. Though he wasn't a sickly white like the child before her, he seemed rather pale with a mess of white hair sitting upon his head, and sky blue eyes that almost looked too tired to focus.

"Iza, please calm down. I can't understand you..." He muttered with a yawn, rubbing one of his eyes with a brown gloved hand until he stopped just a few feet from them.

Sable's face twisted in confusion as she stared at the man, and in return he only stared at her with eyes as wide as saucers. As she began to scratch the back of her head, Sable only took one step closer to inspect the man, and she couldn't help but notice how his body tensed up from the action. The child only seemed to be giggling in delight at the scene before them, clapping their paw-gloves together in pure joy.

"Why do I..." Sable began to ask as she looked at the man, tilting her head as he nervously readjusted a light blue scarf around his neck, "Have we... Are...?"

She couldn't seem to find words, and the man couldn't seem to bring himself to say any. Reaching out a hand to his face, Sable squinted her eyes when pulling her hand back.

_You look just like... He looks so tense. What's wrong? Have I met you? Are you the... Could your name be...?_

"Nobuyuki?"


	4. Chapter 4: Road to Fire

To call the atmosphere awkward was an extreme understatement. Sitting in the room of the two individuals she ran into just a moment ago, the child sitting next to the man on the edge of the bed, and Sable trying to look as casual as possible in the chair she was offered when they walked in. It was hard for her to keep eye contact with the man before her, like how it was anytime she had to talk with anyone she didn't know. It didn't help that she happened to call out this man's name, even though she couldn't explain why she did so other than the fact he looked like the man in her dreams with the same name.

"So you're telling me... You DON'T know who I am, but you know my name?" The pale man known as Nobuyuki asked the tan female before him, rubbing one of his temples in a slight confusion, yet still looking oddly relieved.

"Y-yeah, sorry about that. It is a little hard to explain." Sable stammered out as she rubbed the back of her neck, feeling as though her face was about to set on fire as the man before her let out a heavy sigh.

"Well, that doesn't matter, I guess. I just thought maybe..." The man lowered his gaze to the floor before shaking his head and his face turning to a neutral expression, "Nevermind. Even though you know my name, it is only polite that I fully introduce myself and my companion here."

He gestured to the sickly looking child who was swinging their legs off the edge of the bed and happily digging through a small bag of gummy candies. Now that she got the chance to look at the child, they wore a black hoodie that had light blue lining and a ragged tail, and it seems that it lacked any sleeves. The didn't appear as pale (well, a paper white) like they did in the hall. Instead they were closer to a natural paleness similar to the man's. Their panda hat had two long strings that connected what seemed to be paw-like mittens that just hung to their sides for now.

"Oh, before you ask," The child blurted out before Nobuyuki could introduce them, "You can think of me as a girl if you want to."

"Wh-what..." Sable was going to become dehydrated from all the sweating people were making her do lately, "Think of you... So wait- are you? What?"

The child simply giggled until Nobuyuki gave them a slap to the back of their head.

"I'm Nobuyuki Loire. This is Iza... Uh... Iza Satori, if you will. She is my... what's the word." Nobuyuki started rubbing the back of his head as he was apparently finding difficulty expressing his thoughts.

"I'm his partner!" Iza blurted out happily, going back to popping sugary snacks into her mouth and kicking her legs around.

"Wait, wait. Hold on..." The partner thing, obviously, isn't what suddenly had her brain on the fritz. Pointing her finger at Iza, Sable gave an angry frown as she tried to keep her voice steady, "What do you mean Satori? Don't tell me this is some dumb plot twist where I suddenly meet a long lost sister of mine!"

"No way, that cliche was said and done a long time ago. It's in the scrap- OUCHIE!" The... young girl?... spoke as she examined the contents of her bag one last time before receiving another slap to the head from Nobuyuki, "Yuuuu. That hurt!"

"Please be quiet, Iza." He was obviously a little annoyed with the small child and her weird comments to the older woman.

"Okay, Rachel makes more sense than this-" Sable started to say as she held her head and felt her veins viciously pulsating, "Okay so you AREN'T a sister. Then what are you? A distant cousin or something?"

"It's a little more complicated than that..." Nobuyuki mumbled under his breath as he rested his head in his hand.

"Way more complicated than that! Shirou would be able to explain it for you, but I haven't managed to find him in a while." Iza was holding out one of her scrawny legs, examining her single striped sock, "Maybe you should read daddy's journal a little more and you'll find out. Well, if you can even make out the words."

Sable felt her heart stop at the mention of her father's journal. As far as she knew, only people like Hazama or Relius should even have knowledge that her father even kept some kind of personal journal. Her emotions were shooting back and forth between anger and confusion as she shot up from her chair, sending it falling to the ground. As that happened, there was a strange sense of deja vu that left her head pounding from the pain. _I-I think I stood up too fast..._

"_That stupid bitch is not my sister! I don't have a sister! She doesn't carry my name and doesn't even know anything!"_

And image from her nightmares suddenly flashed through her mind, and as her mind seemed it was about to calm down, it felt like another one - or maybe a new one- was crashing into the back of it.

"_What the hell is that supposed to mean you brat?! If I can read it? What business of yours if I can read it or not?!"_

With the last image, she saw they were in this very same room. _How can that...? I don't remember._ As her head felt like it was going to split into two, she heard footsteps coming over to her and a pair of hands grabbing onto her cloak. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Iza was standing there and staring up at her with her one visible eye.

"Does it hurt?" She asked quietly, the question almost sounding genuine as she squeezed on the edges of Sable's cloak, "I can see it, but I don't know if it hurts..."

"Why..?" Sable asked as she started running her fingers through her own hair once again, an ingrained habit if nothing else, "Why is this happening? Neither of you are making sense! You- you're making me feel like some head is going to split open, I-!"

"Sable?" Angel's voice suddenly entered the room as she slowly pushed the door open, "There you are. Did I interrupt something?"

"No. Your timing is perfect, Miss Muraoka." The man finally spoke up again, standing only to pull Iza away from the taller woman before bowing apologetically, "I am terrible sorry for intruding. We just..." He was struggling to find words again as he drew in a deep breath, "We should let you get some rest, I'm sure you've had a long day. Good night, Satori."

Iza looked between Sable and Nobuyuki, and Sable felt her stomach churn when the child frowned. _Why do you look like me? _Is what she thought when she saw the expression, only able to turn her head away after Iza also bowed in an apologetic manner. Sucking her teeth as she started roughing up her head again, Sable carefully moved past her friend standing in the doorway to make her way to her own room.

_Deep breaths, deep breaths. _Is what she told herself as she locked her down behind her, covering her eyes with her hands as she shook her head. She knew something weird was going to happen when she left home, that should have been dead obvious from Rachel's warning. However, having that knowledge doesn't make it any easier to deal with. It doesn't make things any easier to understand. She flung her bag across the room in a small fit of rage and resisted the urge to send her fist into the wall.

"_It seems your father's past is coming to creep up on you."_

"_Your road is paved in fire, and if you are not careful, not only you will be the one to burn."_

Rachel's words echoed through her head over and over again, leaving Sable trembling from the anxiety. Why was she the one being forced into this situation? She felt like the world was about to go to Hell in a handbasket, or her world at least. Moving her fingers from her hair to her face, she tried not to dig in her nails into her cheeks when her breathing became shaky again. Trying to calm down seemed pointless, and as she bit into her lip she could swear there would be blood drawn soon.

She had to mentally slap herself a few times and to force her brain to reset. Dropping her arms to her sides and looking over to her bag, her mind now only focused on her father's journal she had stored in her bag. Normally when she read it, she was only glancing through, she never bothered to truly focus on the words in it. Now her gut was telling her to read through it again, to pay attention to every little detail, to read it until the binding was worn and then more after. Turning on a lamp in the room, Sable went into her bag to grab the journal, and made herself comfortable on the bed as she started from the first page...

She didn't know how many hours she had been reading, or how much information she had been cramming into her brain. Her eyes were heavy and trying to focus on the words in front of her, but no matter how hard she tried some remained blurry and seemed as though someone had smudged the ink. Soon, her common sense kicked back in, and told her it was time to call it a night. It wasn't like the book told her anything that she didn't already know. She was very sick as a child and only started making a recovery when she was around ten years old. Though, strangely, in the later sections where she could make out Reluis' name is where she was struggling.

_I'm probably just too tired. I'll read more tomorrow..._

Setting the book to the nightstand by her and turning off the lamp, Sable flopped back on the bed with her hands behind her head. Staring up at the dark ceiling, trying to process the overflow of information in the journal, now she only found the words from the young girl all the more confusing. Is it that she really can't read these pages? Or is it a mere coincidence that she is exhausted and can't seem to focus? Rolling onto her side and tucking a pillow between her head and arm, Sable tried to turn off her brain so that she may drift off to sleep. It was obvious that she would be unsuccessful, however, as her eyes just remained open and refused to shut. While not as intense, her mind felt as though everything was about to spill over. _It's like that time..._ Is what she thought as she finally felt her eyes beginning to shut, _It's... almost just like back then... No, maybe, that was easier to understand._

Sable was doing her normal exercise routine, having gotten permission to get a pull-up bar installed in her and Angel's room, and not having a reason to go back home for the Holidays since her father said he wouldn't be there. Keeping her breath steady as she continued to pull her head over the bar while carefully lowering herself again. She would do this at least twenty times in the morning, wash, get dressed, and go around the school to do things like cleaning duty and making sure the classrooms on her level were in order.

Her two friends had gone home for the break, not too surprising since they were both Duodecim kids and probably had business to handle at home. Guaranteed positions or not, Sable was sure their parents were probably talking to them about their schooling and such anyway, more so to save face with the family if nothing else. If anything, no matter what position her family was with the rest of the world, Sable was thankful that her life alone would not affect her entire family's. Well, not until she took over her father's position as the head anyway.

As her mind wandering through those thoughts, she stared at her cell phone that sat face-up on her bed. _I haven't heard from anyone lately... _It would be nice to think they were just really busy, but even her father would respond to something like a 'good morning' message only a few minutes after. She also couldn't help but feel worried about Angel as well, she had be growing more distant from her these past few months and hasn't talked to her since she left. Even Kagura was being weird, and she had grown to consider him like a brother to her. She only realized she had been hanging from her pull-up bar when she heard a knock at her door and how her arms felt like they were stuck.

"Oh! Gimme a minute!" She called out when realizing she was only sitting around in her cropped tank top and boyshorts, dropping down with a slight thud and scrambling to cover herself.

Pulling on her harem shorts and chinese tang styled shirt, shoulders slumped as she rolled up her sleeves before opening the door. She immediately straightened her back when meeting a pair of golden eyes and a man clad in black.

"M-my Captain!" She immediately began to salute him, until he casually waved his hand and shook his head at her.

"At ease, Cadet. I see graduation has you a little on edge." Hazama looked as laid back as ever with a hand halfway stuck in his pocket and tipping back his fedora.

"I'm just excited, is all!" A wide smile spread across Sable's face when she relaxed her body, "But I am sure you are here on business. Is there something I can do for you, Hazama?"

She just heard him mutter 'Well' as he lowered his head and reached into his jacket, pulling out an envelope that was addressed to her. It wasn't too uncommon for her to get letters from home, but the wax seal caught her eyes and made all her muscles tense. It was her father's seal... "I think you should see the information for yourself. If you need anything at all, feel free to contact me, Sable."

There was a shiver going up her spine with the way he spoke, especially when it felt like her name just slithered from his lips. Carefully reaching out and trying not to snatch the letter away, there was a silence between the two again. Sable puffed out her chest as they both took a step back, and she could swear she saw a twinkle of delight in his golden eyes as she shut the door. _That had to be my imagination..._ Was all she could think as she turned to lean back against the door, inspecting every little inch of the letter before she even dared to open it.

As if by chance, the light and fragrant smell roses filled her nose and a small breeze blew throughout her room. Taking in a sharp gasp as she looked off to the center of her room, there stood a seemingly young girl with long blonde hair that was tied up into twin tails, and her large bows resembling that of bunny ears. This girl was none other than Rachel Alucard, and she stared at Sable with her sparkling crimson eyes and held nothing but an elegant air about her.

"R-R-R-...! My Lady!" As if her manners and every ounce of sense left her just to return in a nanosecond, Sable dropped down onto her knees and bowed deeply to the one before her.

"You may stand, young Satori. I won't be here very long." Rachel spoke in her typical posh tone, Sable could see her inspecting her own hands before glancing at the girl once again. Not even giving her a moment's notice before using a small gush of wind to lift Sable back onto her feet, "I said stand, did I not?"

"My-my-my a-a-apologies, Madam Rachel!" Sable began to stammer as her heart raced in her chest, always becoming anxious when someone of such high standing was around. Well, someone the exact opposite of her captain, that was...

"Silence, before you bite your tongue with how much your jaw is rattling." Rachel's brows knotted together for just a moment as she let out a sigh, gently shaking her head at the young girl, "I am here on behalf of your father, little Satori."

Sable's face went from being simply anxious to both anxious and confused. In Sable's mind, someone like Rachel would have no reason to send messages from her father or anyone in her family. Not even just because of her technical status as a noble, but because she was in no real obligation to do anything. Whatever it was, it must have been important for her to come out here on her own.

"Hmmm, I should put this in laymans terms for you." Rachel was mumbling to herself as she held her own chin in her hand, and before Sable could inquire anything the vampiress looked up at her, "To be to the point, you cannot stay here. It would be in the best interest of you and your father. I would suggest you make haste in your leaving."

"What?" Sable's shoulders dropped as she squinted her eyes and partial pouted her lips from the sudden comment, "I should... LEAVE? B-but this is my final year. I'll be graduating in a few months! What could possibly be so important...?"

"There is far more going on with this than you would be able to understand from a single talk. Even your father has had difficulty wrapping his brilliant yet foolish brain around it." Rachel stopped the girl in her tracks in the way a mother stopped their child from protesting against them, "And... Furthermore... Your father is going to need you more now than ever, and if you stay here, I fear the result will be... Less than to your liking. I believe that letter of yours will answer any further questions. That is all I can say on the matter, until another day, little Satori."

"W-wait-! Madam Rachel!" Sable tried to call out to her, but she was too late. And she was left behind with the echo of her own voice, the smell of roses, and the letter in her hands...

_I have... Such a bad feeling about this... _Was all she could think now, and it left the sensation of a rock sitting in the pit of her stomach as she slowly opened the letter from her father...

Days went by after Sable read the contents of the letter, days that left her in an almost empty state of being. From packing all of her belongings and removing all trace of herself from her dorm room, to going to the faculty office to speak with her teachers and counselors about dropping out. When they would question her as to why, or even attempt to scold her as it was so close to graduation time, she could only mutter out the words "I'm sorry". She almost contacted her would-be Captain about it, but something in the back of her mind always kept her from pressing the final two numbers. It kept her from hitting the send button. It was as if her body, or maybe her soul, was keeping her from contacting him now.

What made matters worse is that Angel still wasn't contacting her back, not answering her phone calls or replying to her texts. Though if she contacted one of her parents, they happily told the young girl that her friend was there at home. It was strange, very strange. And while she could simply send her friend a text message about what was going on, or leave a voicemail, Sable had the gnawing urge to see her face-to-face and let her know, and to give a proper farewell. All of that led up to where she was now, standing at the front door of the Muraoka manor, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly as she tried to keep her back straight for once. She stood in a simple black, skin-tight collared jacket she had cut the sleeves off of, her blue tube top showing just partially in the chest as she left a few buttons undone. Her hands were shoved into her charcoal colored pants, and her matching steel toed boots clicked against the ground impatiently.

After a few knocks with her partially gloved hands, a servant had appeared at the door to greet her, letting her inside and informing her that both Angel and Kagura were in the back. On any normal day, Sable wouldn't think twice of it, they are Duodecim kids after all! They probably have business together! But with her state of being now, it only made the rock in her stomach feel all the heavier. When she walked inside, she had simply wiped her boots off on the rug at the front door and made her way further in. Even though her body felt like it weighed a million pounds and that she was just dragging it around, she was oddly quiet as she walked about.

It felt like she had been looking for an eternity, and she bowed at the few servants she ran into along the way, who kept giving her directions to other rooms and areas of the home. After a while it began to feel like she was being juggled around by everyone. Running her hands through her hair impatiently, resisting the urge to try to pull it out by the roots, Sable tried to completely silence all the noise in her brain until she finally heard their voices.

"We can't keep avoiding it forever, Angel." She heard a young Kagura speak in a serious, but hushed tone.

"I know, but all of this... I don't know if I can..." Angel sounded... Not like herself. She had a tone to her voice that was almost like she had been crying for days, with a strangely... Pathetic edge to it.

"Angel, she's our friend. Eventually it's gonna-"

"What's going to happen?" Sable didn't hesitate to walk right into the room the pair was in, finding no point in eavesdropping when either way she was going to get the answers she needed. As the two gave her shocked expressions, obviously not expecting her to be there, Sable felt her mouth twitch at the corners when pulling out her own phone, "I called. And sent messages. A lot of them. Don't give me stupid faces like that."

"Sable, I-I..." Angel was visibly shaken, and Sable took note of the fact Kagura had also taken a step back from the female, "I wanted to tell you. An-and I'm sorry about your family-!"

"Wait," Feeling a vein in her neck suddenly bulge, it was becoming harder and harder to keep her wits about her with each passing moment, "You... How do you know what is happening?"

"I-I mean your family has such deep contacts with most of us. We began to hear as soon as it started happening some months ago." Angel's ears began to fold, and even in such a state of what was believed to be vulnerability, she didn't lose her polite edge for even a second.

"You've known about this FOR **MONTHS**?!" Her voice suddenly boomed in anger, and she covered her bared teeth and shut her eyes as tightly as she could, "And don't- Don't you _DARE_ say you thought I knew! I always come to you **first** with **anything** that happens to me or my family-! But you, oh, yoooou... Well what else is there?! You seemed to be discussing something else when I walked in! Go on, _say it._"

There was like a hiss at the last two words, and as much as she was trying to hold back from being too cruel, she felt her own mind beginning to melt down from the situation. _Stay calm, fuck, it is hard. But stay calm_.

"Well, Sable," Kagura stepped in front of Angel, as if he was protecting the cat beastkin who looked like she was also about to break any minute now. He was now the only one able to keep a steady and right mind, it appeared, "Angel and I have also... Been in a relationship, of sorts. It has been going on for at least half a year now."

For some reason, that struck a wrong chord with Sable. Her face twitched again as she felt the rock in her stomach beginning to explode, and it was hard to keep herself from dry heaving due to the nausea sweeping over her senses. But soon, her mind just left her. So she stood there, with hot tears running down her face and a laugh bellowing out, resonating throughout the entire room. She rolled her eyes when to make senses of it all, running her fingers through her hair once again as she turned from them and threw her arms up in the air.

"Well then!" Is what she finally said, "How about **that**! Of all the times for me to find this bit of information out! I couldn't be told when it happened, nope! Apparently I can't be told anything!"

"I-I was scared you would... React like this." Is what Angel finally spoke up once again, and the tremble in her voice finally going away as she tried to build her confidence back up.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You'd think I'd be just damn peachy after my best friend not telling me something like that for _six months_. That _my friends_ know more about my own family, knowing they are just dropping like fucking flies. The Satori clan is on the longest streak of bad luck possible! Sickness, accidents, ambushes in the street, the fucking works. And for you two to say nothing to me for **MONTHS**! I must be cursed!" Though she started out sarcastically, and while keeping only a little bit of that tone, an almost crazed voice broke through before she finally caught herself. Her face twisted into a frown and she bit her lower lip as she turned to look back at the other two.

"I didn't think it'd end up like this, ya know? S-something so fucking petty?.. I could have handled it months ago. I would have even been happy. I thought you knew me better than that..." Sable continued in a sad, almost broken tone as she pulled her father's crumpled letter from her jacket, staring down at it through her tears before wiping them away with her forearm, "No... No, no, no. This isn't what I came here for... I came to say goodbye. I'm... I'm dropping out."

Before the two could give her the same protests that the faculty did, or if they did she couldn't remember as a headache began to sink in (Like it always did when her emotions started going to an extreme), she cut them off by holding up the letter, "I got this the other day from Hazama. The seal is my father's. He... He's sick. He isn't gonna make it, I don't think. I can't..." She began to stumble back, but only slapped the other two's hands way if they attempted to reach out for her, "I am going home, I just wanted to say goodbye in person, is all. Take care."

She didn't mean to come in there and make the tension worse than what it had already appeared to be. She didn't mean to, but she did anyway. _That's all you're good for doing, yeah? _A strange voice echoed in her head, especially when she rejected contact with them once again. With the tears still spilling down her face, she bit her tongue as she bowed to her friends, and left without another word. _I can't blame them, _is what she told herself over and over again as she left, _They have other priorities. Things that have nothing to do with me. Things so much bigger... I can't blame them. I can't. I can't. _

"_But you do."_

Eyes shooting open when the dream finally ended and the eerie voice left behind made her heart race. Sable grabbed onto her father's memento that she ended up falling asleep in, trying to calm her shaky nerves. _I'm at an inn in Zhaoyang... _She had to remind herself, forcing away the images of the past. Images that she had to question now that she was older and her mind was mostly cleared. _I was in a daze for most of that, did that even really happen?_

Rolling out of the bed, subconsciously sniffing herself before deciding to take a quick shower, Sable now just felt groggy and that the sun was too bright in her room. There was too much work to be done today for her to be distracted by old memories; especially when they were memories she wasn't even too sure happened in the way she recalled. But it wasn't like she could ask Angel, it was probably the reason they would suddenly become tense and awkward around each other. No need to strain their personal relationship any further.

The day went on in a mostly normal fashion, she only gave small glances to the pair she talked to the previous day as they seemed to be busy with work around the village. Sable was handling her own work both with the locals and cleaning out her grandparents home with Angel.

_Ma and Pa sure left this place in a bit of a mess. _Sable thought to herself as she stood around in her tube top and shorts. She left her cloak at the inn since the inn keeper's husband offered to clean it for her in exchange for doing some minor labor earlier that day. Wiping the sweat from her brow when she finally finished cleaning the windows, she couldn't help but look proud of her work with her hands on her hips, _Should help to add more light to the place. Ma would be ecstatic to see the place so clean._

"Good job today, Satori," She heard Angel come up behind her, almost mewing with delight and handing the taller woman a container of water, "We've managed to salvage a lot of information today. Who knew your mother's side kept so much of it stored."

"Totally," Sable smirked as she took the water, happily drinking away and only taking breaths between gulps, "Whatever you guys are trying to find out about those filters, I am sure you have more than enough by now."

Angel slowly shut her eyes and nodded her head, an expression that Sable recalled cats doing when they were really happy about something... Well aside from biting you that was. Sable had to hold down a laugh as the thought crossed her mind, but still ended up spitting up some of her water anyway. Angel's ears perked up from the initial surprise, but they folded downward in... Sable couldn't even tell what her expression was, she just appeared to be done with the tan woman's shenanigans, and could only sigh when Sable spat out more water from a sudden laughter.

"You are such a child, Satori..." Angel sighed out as she pulled her cellphone from her pocket, dialing in a number and securing her bluetooth into her ear, "I need to make a quick call, try to behave while I'm gone."

"Yeah, yeah. Tell your boyfriend I said hi." Sable gave her friend a small wink but quietly yelped when she received a quick slap to her side in response.

She watched her friend as she walked away to make her call, going inside the house to look at their loot upon the table. There were tons of memopads, sticky notes, pocket journals, anything that was made of paper that her grandpa could scribble on with a pen. _Well, I am sure me taking one isn't going to make a world of difference. _Shrugging her shoulders as she picked one of the smaller journals, shoving it into the pocket of her shorts as she heard someone else walk into the home.

"Satori? Are you in here, I, uuh-!" It was none other than Nobuyuki who took one look at the woman before coughing into his fist, turning his head away from her. Was he blushing? "W-well you look like you're working hard."

Sable arched a brow at him before looking down at herself. She was sweaty and looked shiny in direct sunlight, and couldn't help but notice she appeared half naked without her cloak. Looking back up at the man whose brow was twitching, and his cheeks turning pink when he met her eyes.

"Hardly working. You seemed busy today, where's your partner?" Sable tried to keep full eye contact with the man as a deep flush crept across her face, a little shocked how flustered he seemed, not that she didn't appreciate it but it wasn't like something like this was common for her.

"Getting supplies. You know this place is pretty poor, so in exchange for services they give us food, medicine, and temporary lodging." Looking back outside for a moment and glancing back at her from the corner of his eye, "About yesterday, Satori... I wanted to apologize again. Things are a little weird, and as you can see, Iza is a little... quirky."

"Sable. You can call me Sable, Loire." Was the first thing she said as she took another sip from her water, shrugging her shoulders at his apology as she cast her own eyes away from him, "Don't worry about it. I am sorry for getting so worked up, no hard feelings?"

Nobuyuki's eyes went wide for a minute, but the smile he gave showed how relieved he was at her words, "You can call me Nobuyuki. No hard feelings at all, Sable."

Once again, there were no words, but for once she was left with a calm and peaceful aura instead of the awkward and tense ones that normally followed... Well, it was still pretty awkward, since both their faces were painted with embarrassment. Giving the male a smile, she noticed how his face was beginning to turn pink againfrom what looked like relief. Rolling her shoulders back before walking towards him, she gave the man a light pat on the shoulder as she made her way back out the house.

_Maybe I should pack my things and get dressed._ Is what she thought as her own face began to flush to an even dark shade of red once out of sight, _But was he eyeing me...? No, couldn't have._

It didn't take long to pack her things since she barely pulled anything out of her bag the night before anyhow, and the old man had given her back her cloak as soon she returned her key. Thanking him again for his kindness, as well as his help the previous day, she slipped on her cloak and flung her bag onto her shoulders. Once outside of the inn, she was greeted by Angel who was finally off of her phone call.

"Well, I've got news. The information we found here is going to be of good use to us. I am going to head back to Yabiko to report back to Kagura now. Would you like to join me?" Angel smoothed out her clothes as she spoke, and moved her hair over her shoulder in such a graceful motion Sable had to force her heart to not throb at the sight.

"Huh? You want me to come with you?" Sable sounded shocked at the offer, and couldn't help but to tilt her head to the side. Would it be okay with her to travel with someone else...?

"Saaaaable!" Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of Iza's voice piercing through the air, and the young girl latching onto the tall woman's torso, "Take me with you!"

"Iza! You can't just grab onto people like that!" Nobuyuki, of course, followed right after Iza and grabbed onto her hood.

"What- How could you hear-? Nevermind." Deciding not to question it, waving Nobuyuki off the young girl, Sable just stared down at her before glancing at her friend to see if it would bother her at all.

"I won't mind if your... New friends come along. Sometimes it is better to travel in a group, every now and again." Angel held her hands behind her back, allowing her tails to gently sway back and forth behind her in a content manner.

Sable bit her lip in thought, thinking of Rachel's words once again, and as she did Iza was clinging eve tighter to her. "Please!" The child begged, "I'm not scared to burn with you, Sable! I can see it, and I'm not scared!"

"... You are so weird, kid." Sable couldn't help but smile, the girl's confusing words oddly comforting as she rubbed her head. When straightening her shoulders, she finally made up her mind by saying, "Alright! Why not! The more the merrier, right? You two can come along too. I need to go to Ibukido anyway for a little info gathering of my own."

Iza seemed oddly excited for someone who, as far as Sable knew, barely knew anything about the taller woman. She climbed up Sable's body and clung to the side of her back that wasn't covered by her bag. Angel only nodded as she began to pull up a GPS on her phone, turning on her heels to make her way out of the village. Sable glanced at Nobuyuki from the corner of her eye, smirking at his shocked expression before she gestured for him to follow as she too made her way out the village as well.

_Not afraid to burn, huh? _Sable thought as she readjusted herself to support Iza's weight and her own bag, _If the road is made of fire, then I guess it is time to start charging through. Our first stop, Ibukido_


End file.
